C♯ harmonic minor
Natural minor, fixed for endings.
One change: raise the seventh from B to B♯. That turns the five chord from G♯m into G♯, and puts a note one fret below home.
B♯ is the same fret as C. The scale spells it B♯ so every letter appears once.
It also opens a three-fret gap between A and B♯. That gap is how most people recognise the scale, usually within a second.
- How it sounds
- Minor with an edge. It’s natural minor until the seventh, which jumps up and leans hard on home. It sounds dramatic and a little formal, and it badly wants to resolve.
- Where it lives
- Classical and baroque minor keys, neoclassical metal, flamenco, and Balkan and klezmer music.
On the neck
- High E string: F♯ at fret 2, G♯ at fret 4, A at fret 5
- B string: B♯ at fret 1, C♯ at fret 2, D♯ at fret 4, E at fret 5
- G string: G♯ at fret 1, A at fret 2, B♯ at fret 5
- D string: D♯ at fret 1, E at fret 2, F♯ at fret 4
- A string: B♯ at fret 3, C♯ at fret 4
- Low E string: F♯ at fret 2, G♯ at fret 4, A at fret 5
The notes
In order, with the frets between them: C♯2D♯1E2F♯2G♯1A3B♯1C♯
Only one note differs from natural minor, and it changes a lot. B♯ now sits a single fret below C♯ and pulls toward it. The cost is the gap it opens underneath: look at the jump from A to B♯.
Home. Every other note is measured from it. B♯ (the same fret as C) sits one fret below.
C♯
Perfect unison
Two frets up from C♯: whole step.
D♯
Major second
One fret up from D♯: half step.
E
Minor third
Two frets up from E: whole step.
F♯
Perfect fourth
Two frets up from F♯: whole step.
G♯
Perfect fifth
One fret up from G♯: half step.
A
Minor sixth
Three frets up from A: augmented second. B♯ is the same fret as C.
B♯
Major seventh
The chords
Same method: take a note, skip one, take the next. Most of the chords match natural minor. The new one is on E. E–G♯–B♯ is four frets and then four more, two wide gaps in a row, and that makes an augmented chord. It’s unstable, and you’ll rarely hear it on its own.
G♯–B♯–D♯, four then three, turns the five chord major.
i, ii°, III+, iv, V, VI, vii°. The plus marks an augmented chord. The uppercase V is the whole point of this scale: a minor key with a major five. In C♯ harmonic minor, i–iv–V is C♯m–F♯m–G♯.
- High E string: G♯ at fret 4
- B string: E at fret 5
- G string: C♯ at fret 6
- D string: G♯ at fret 6
- A string: C♯ at fret 4
- Low E string: not played
The three functions
The same three jobs, except now the last station actually pulls.
Tonic
home
- C♯mi
Pre-dominant
moving
- F♯miv
- D♯dimii°rare
- AVI
Dominant
tension
- G♯V
- B♯dimvii°rare
resolves back to C♯m
G♯ is G♯–B♯–D♯ and B♯dim is B♯–D♯–F♯. They share B♯ and D♯, and both have the note one fret below home, so they do the same job.
Compare natural minor, where the dominant chords had no B♯ at all. One note moved and the key got a real ending.
Progressions
Classical
Classical minor keys are written this way on purpose. The raised seventh is there to make the cadence work: the five chord goes where it promised, and the key shuts like a door.
| Name | Numerals | In C♯ |
|---|---|---|
| Minor cadencecommon | V–i | G♯ – C♯m |
| Full minor cadencecommon | i–iv–V–i | C♯m – F♯m – G♯ – C♯m |
| Pre-dominant approach | ii°–V–i | D♯dim – G♯ – C♯m |
| Deceptiverare | V–VI | G♯ – A |
Jazz
Jazz plays the same move with seventh chords. The minor two-five-one closes a huge number of minor-key standards.
| Name | Numerals | In C♯ |
|---|---|---|
| Minor two-five-onecommon | iiø7–V7–i | D♯m7♭5 – G♯7 – C♯m |
| Minor turnaround | i–VI–iiø7–V7 | C♯m – Amaj7 – D♯m7♭5 – G♯7 |
Spanish and flamenco
Here the music leans on the five chord itself. G♯ gets treated as a place to rest, not a step toward home, which is how the scale sounds when you start it from its fifth note.
| Name | Numerals | In C♯ |
|---|---|---|
| Andalusian cadencecommon | i–VII–VI–V | C♯m – B – A – G♯borrows B from natural minor |
| Phrygian vamp | V–VI–V | G♯ – A – G♯ |
Writing with this
Putting chords under a melody
The note that can only mean one thing.
Hold a B♯ in the melody and look for the chords that contain it: G♯, B♯dim and E+. All three are unstable.
So a B♯ in the tune always sounds like it’s about to resolve. Harmonic minor melodies use that. Put B♯ on a long note and the listener waits for C♯.
The family
- C♯ MajorD♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ C
From C♯ major: remove 4 and 7
C♯ Major PentatonicD♭ E♭ F A♭ B♭From C♯ major: flatten 3, 6 and 7
C♯ Natural MinorC♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ A B ♭3 ♭6 ♭7From C♯ natural minor: remove 2 and ♭6
C♯ Minor PentatonicC♯ E F♯ G♯ B ♭3 ♭7From C♯ natural minor: raise the 7 back
C♯ Harmonic MinorC♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ A B♯ ♭3 ♭6From C♯ harmonic minor: raise the 6 back
C♯ Melodic MinorC♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ A♯ B♯ ♭3